Jimma University

College of Social Sciences and Humanities

Department of English Language and
Literature
FICTION:
FICTION VS NON-FICTION
SHORT STORY
NOVEL
NOVELLA

Fundamentals of Literature
Fiction Vs Nonfiction
 Fiction is the form of any narrative or
informative work that deals, in part or in whole,
with information or events that are not factual,
but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the
author.
 Fiction contrast with non-fiction, which deals
exclusively with factual (or, at least, assumed
factual) events, descriptions, observations, etc.
(e.g. biographies, histories).
Fiction (Prose)

 Fiction includes short stories, novella and

novels.
 We can distinguish short stories, novellas, and
novels, by their length.
Fiction
 Fiction is commonly divided into three areas
according to the general appearance of the
text:
 stories and novels: prose--that is, the usual
paragraph structure--forming chapters
 poetry: lines of varying length, forming stanzas
 plays: spoken lines and stage directions,
arranged in scenes and acts
The Short Story

 a story with a fully developed theme/moral

lesson but significantly shorter and less
elaborate than a novel.
 A short story is a piece of prose fiction that
typically can be read in one sitting and focuses
on a self-contained incident or series of linked
incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single
effect" or mood.
 The short story and other fictional narratives
consists of elements like character, plot,
setting, point of view, conflict and theme
Short Story
 Narrative prose fiction that is shorter than a
novel. Short stories vary in length. Some are
no longer than five hundred words; other run to
forty or fifty thousand words. An extended short
story is sometimes referred to as a novelette,
or when slightly longer, as a novella. The
major difference between a short story and
longer fictional forms, such as the novel, is that
the main literary elements
Short Story

 Generally, all details of a short story are

arranged to achieve a single effect. The action
moves rapidly, with minimal complication or
detail of setting, and the significant
characteristics of the protagonist's life are
revealed economically through a central
incident.
 Short stories range from the short short story
(as few as five hundred words in length) to the
novelette or novella (a more complex story but
still lacking the breadth of a novel).
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SHORT STORY
 A short story should create a single impression.
 It should be highly economical with every word, all
characters, dialogue and description designed to
develop single predesigned effect.
 Most short stories revolve around a single
incident, character or period of time,
 Should be capable of being read at one sitting.
 Opening sentence should initiate the
predetermined or predesigned effect.
 Once climax reached, the story should end with
minimal resolution.
 Character should only be developed to the extent
required by the story.
The Novel

 The novel is a long fictional narrative written in

prose, which arose in the late seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries and overtook verse
narratives in popularity, eventually replacing
them.
 a fictitious prose narrative of book length,
typically representing character and action with
some degree of realism.
 A novel is a relatively long work of narrative
fiction, normally in prose, which is typically
published as a book.
Beginning of the Novel

 The novel is a relatively modern form of

literature. The modern novel has existed for
only the past three hundred years. Earlier
narratives—such as Homer's Iliad or Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales —were written in verse.
 The novel is often said to have emerged with
the appearance of Daniel Defoe's Robinson
Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722).
The Novel

 The novel is differentiated from its

predecessors by its internal cohesion, its
emphasis on a tightly orchestrated plot and
action, its realistic portrayal of characters and
situations, and its eschewing of overtly
allegorical elements.
 The novel, replaced poetry and drama and
became the most popular of literary forms
because it most closely represents the lives of
the majority of people.
Characteristics of the Novel

 is written in prose, it is distinguished from long

narratives written in verse such as Homer’s Iliad
or Milton’s Paradise Lost.
 contains multiple interwoven plots and subplots,
numerous characters, several themes,
sometimes multiple narrators;
 The story takes place in a particularized, detailed
setting or settings.
 has "true to life" realism and believability
(verisimilitude);
Characteristics . . .

 is sometimes distinguished from the romance

because it gives a real, not imaginary, picture
of life, and creates its own complex world in
which characters and plots operate in a
specific time and place;
Defining the genre
A fictional narrative
 Fictionality is most commonly cited as distinguishing novels
from historiography.
Literary prose
 While prose rather than verse became the standard of the modern
novel, the ancestors of the modern European novel include verse
epics in the Romance language of southern France
Content: intimate experience
 Both in 12th-century Japan and 15th-century Europe, prose fiction
created intimate reading situations. On the other hand, verse epics,
including the Odyssey and Aeneid, had been recited to a select
audiences, though this was a more intimate experience than the
performance of plays in theaters.
 A new world of individualistic fashion, personal views, intimate
feelings, secret anxieties, "conduct", and "gallantry" spread with
novels and the associated prose-romance.
Defining the genre
Length
 The novel is today the longest genre of
narrative prose fiction, followed by the novella.
 However, in the 17th century, critics saw the
romance as of epic length and the novel as its
short rival. A precise definition of the
differences in length between these types of
fiction, is, however, not possible. The
requirement of length has been traditionally
connected with the notion that a novel should
encompass the "totality of life."[11]
Novella Novel

 The English term “novel” is derived from the

Italian word novella (which literally means “a
little new thing”). The novella was a short tale
in prose. (Nowadays, novella is used
synonymously with the term novellette, a
prose fiction of middle length.)
 It is possible that in England the form was
labeled as a ‘novel’, not because of its length,
but because it was a new genre. Indeed, this
form is actually quite young, compared to
genres such as poetry and drama which date
back to ancient times.
Novella. . .

 The best known collection is Boccaccio’s

Decameron.
 A short story comprises prose writing of less
than 10,000 to 20,000 words, but typically
more than 500 words, which may or may not
have a narrative arc.
 A story containing between 20,000 and 50,000
words falls into the novella category.
 A work of fiction containing more than 50,000
words falls squarely into the realm of the
novel.